SANTA CRUZ, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At the conclusion of the 2020 Reebok CrossFit Games Open in October, CrossFit, Inc. will find the fittest man and woman in every eligible country participating in the worldwide CrossFit Open and crown them national champions. National champions automatically qualify for the 2020 Reebok CrossFit Games, held in August in Madison, Wisconsin. There, national champions will have the chance to compete with other Games athletes for $1.6M and the title of Fittest on Earth.
What Are the CrossFit Games?
The CrossFit Games are a grueling, multi-day competition in which elite athletes, ages 14 to 60+, and teams from around the world compete in the ultimate test of fitness. The CrossFit Games are the Sport of Fitness, and well-rounded athletes train to be prepared for unknown events announced just before the competition. CrossFit movements are selected from gymnastics, powerlifting, Olympic lifting, running, rowing, and beyond.
Athletes arrive in Madison, Wisconsin, with almost no knowledge of the actual events, so their training has to cover a wider range of activities than any other professional sport. They are ranked during competition with their peers, and the winners are crowned Fittest on Earth after proving their fitness in a series of diverse events over the course of several days. The 2020 event will be the 13th annual edition of the CrossFit Games and the largest field of individual athletes ever. The total purse this year is more than $2.3M.
What Is the CrossFit Games Open?
The CrossFit Games Open is the largest fitness competition on Earth and the first of three competitions that form the CrossFit Games season: the Open, the Age Group Online Qualifier, and the Games. In the Open, hundreds of thousands of athletes from more than 15,000 CrossFit affiliates worldwide compete in a five-week test of fitness. This online competition is open to anyone in the world. Every week, from Oct. 10, 2019, to Nov. 11, 2019, athletes will complete a workout designed by CrossFit, Inc. to test cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy.
Upon completion of the Open, the top 20 athletes worldwide, as well as the first-place male and female competitors from each eligible country, will earn invitations to compete at the 2020 Reebok CrossFit Games. Following the Open, top age group athletes from 14-17 and 35-60+ have a second online qualifier to earn an Age Group spot in the finals. Beyond these two online qualifiers, the only way for an athlete to guarantee a spot in the finals is to win one of the 28 Sanctionals™ (CrossFit competitions that are individually owned and operated).
CrossFit Games Open National Champions
The 2020 season will mark the second year in which CrossFit, Inc. awards the first-place man and woman in every eligible nation worldwide the opportunity to compete at the CrossFit Games.
In 2019, CrossFit crowned a total of 232 national champions hailing from 123 different countries. On Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019, the first day of competition in Madison, Wisconsin, 143 men and 117 women representing 114 countries took the field, becoming the most diverse field of athletes the CrossFit Games had ever seen.
From Afghanistan to Belgium, Egypt to Estonia, Kosovo to Kuwait — the National Champion Open qualifier gives athletes from nations where CrossFit is in its infancy the opportunity to evolve the sport and represent their countries on a worldwide stage.
There are virtually no barriers to entry for any athlete who wishes to represent their country at the 2020 Reebok CrossFit Games. No professional status or allegiance to a sport federation is required or even preferred. Athletes need only do the following:
- Register for the Open.
- Complete and video record all five Open workouts as prescribed over the course of the Open. Submit scores to games.crossfit.com.
Champions will be notified after the Leaderboard is set upon completion of the Open and after citizenship is verified.
About CrossFit, Inc.
CrossFit, Inc. is the developer and provider of the CrossFit® fitness program and a recognized worldwide leader in functional fitness. Founded by Greg Glassman and built on the foundations of constantly varied, high-intensity functional movements, education and collaborative competition, CrossFit-brand workouts develop strength and fitness while cultivating community and camaraderie in each of the more than 15,000 affiliated gyms in CrossFit’s global network. CrossFit, Inc. is a leading accredited certificate issuer for physical-training professionals worldwide and offers specialty certificate programs in addition to its core curriculum. CrossFit, Inc.’s health initiatives pursue an investigation into the ills of modern medicine and the willful abuse of the public’s trust in science. CrossFit, Inc. created and operates the CrossFit Games, an annual competition where elite athletes compete to be named the Fittest on Earth™. To learn more, visit www.CrossFit.com, Games.CrossFit.com, or http://www.youtube.com/CrossFitHQ.
CrossFit, Forging Elite Fitness, The Sport of Fitness and Fittest on Earth are registered trademarks or trademarks of CrossFit, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
